Social Studies 101
To The Editor:
Re “Won’t cut Silver any slack” (letter, by Dodge Landesman, Feb. 5):
My friend Dodge Landesman may have skipped class when his social studies teacher covered the constitutional rights that Assemblyman Silver has — to be considered not guilty unless he has his day in court and can confront his accusers.
I remember when then-18-year-old Dodge Landesman, who was considering running for City Council, was delighted to shake hands with then-Speaker Silver when I introduced the two of them to each other. Now, it is perhaps politically expedient for Dodge to pile on the seeming political corpse of Assemblyman Silver before any trial. Who needs trials when the public lynch mobs have hangings in kangaroo courts?
Assemblyman Silver deserves to be considered not guilty until he has his day in court. Not because he is a true progressive, which he is — but instead because it is the American way. I taught this in our New York City high schools when I was 22 years old (around Dodge’s age now) when I was a social studies teacher just out of college. I learned this also when I was a student in high school and college.
Perhaps Dodge one day will go on to be an assemblyman or beyond, like my representative Deborah Glick, who well represents my district, or a state senator, like Brad Hoylman, both of whom are pioneers in the L.G.B.T. and progressive movements. Dodge Landesman will go on to do important political things in our city one day. Piling on Assemblyman Silver before a fair trial in open court is not one of them.
Gil Horowitz
Stop the Airbnb madness
To The Editor:
Re “How one company adapted to the illegal-hotel law” (talking point, by Rick Lassin, Feb. 5):
By being a good corporate citizen, New York Habitat is letting Airbnb take their market share and business. The fact is that Airbnb makes more money by foisting all responsibility and risk on the lessor and lessee and neighbors in the surrounding community.
Their dishonest and disingenuous advertising on social media and in subway stations obfuscates the issue and makes the general population ignorant. Lessors risk violating terms of their lease and tax laws in order to make some easy money.
The New York State attorney general says more than 70 percent of the rentals on Airbnb for New York City are illegal. Airbnb endorses lessors giving strangers keys to a building. I don’t understand why Airbnb’s Web site is not being shut down.
Donald Moder
Loving this memoir!
To The Editor:
Re “Flirting and fighting on the real ‘Mean Streets’ ” (talking point, by Minerva Durham, Jan. 15):
I love reading Minerva’s memoir. She, as well as her drawing studio, was an important part of my overall learning and growth. I love stopping in, stepping into a wonderful part of my past.
Audrey Wanich
Glad to have HealthPlex
To The Editor:
Re “HealthPlex helps save a heart-attack and three stroke victims” (news article, Sept. 24, 2014):
The Lenox Hill HealthPlex may be old news to many, but a recent experience there has made me a grateful fan.
We all miss St. Vincent’s, and living a short walk down Seventh Ave. from the hospital was part of my long-term retirement plan. Feeling very low earlier this week and with my husband out of town, I made the walk up Seventh to the new HealthPlex instead.
From the moment I walked in, each staff member greeted me with a smile and was cheerful to a fault. I commented on this to several of them and they said they like working there and the community they serve. Lovely to hear when one is a patient! I turned out not to be having a significant cardio-related issue after all, but it was as positive an experience as I could have hoped for.
Even before this, I had admired the sensitive improvements to the HealthPlex building and the handsome external lighting. What once had been something of a run-down novelty looks great, in addition to fulfilling an urgent need for the community. I hope the HealthPlex continues to be a neighborhood asset for many years into the future.
John Bacon
Arch is a Titanic issue
To The Editor:
Re “Praise and excitement versus fear and loathing at Pier55 public hearing” (news article, Jan. 15):
Leaders and members of societies in the U.S., Britain, Northern Ireland, Switzerland and Scandinavia dedicated to preserving the history of R.M.S. Titanic have called for the iconic Pier 54 arch — among the last surviving vestiges of the original Pier 54 structure, and under which Titanic’s survivors, Lusitania’s final passengers and tens of thousands of American troops in two World Wars passed — to be conserved and retained.
If not in its present position, the arch should be relocated to the south side of the P55 structure to serve as a “frame” through which the remains of Pier 54 might be viewed, accompanied by a commemorative plaque or tablet at long last commemorating the significance of this pier to history. In the desire to create something “new,” it is important that the history of this culturally significant feature not be forgotten.
Charles Haas
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